


You Hold Me In Your Arms, And I'm Home

by chanelmaximoff



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1990s, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bottom Bucky Barnes, Broken Bucky Barnes, Brooklyn, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky takes care of Steve, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Football Steve Rogers, Forbidden Love, Friendship/Love, Gay, Gay Sex, Hurt Steve Rogers, Love, Love Letters, Love Triangles, Love at First Sight, M/M, Making Love, Oral Sex, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Romance, Romantic Gestures, Sex, Sexual Tension, Steve Rogers Has Issues, Steve takes care of Bucky, Top Steve Rogers, Writer Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2018-09-28 15:55:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10130606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanelmaximoff/pseuds/chanelmaximoff
Summary: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes met in the summer of 1985. Bucky belonged to the Barnes family, of Barnes Industries. Steve was a simple Brooklyn boy. It was the best summer of Bucky's life, until one day, Steve stopped showing up to their meeting spot. That was the last he'd heard of Steve Rogers... Until senior year of high school."Are you sure about this, Buck?" Steve asked him, panting and breathless."Yeah, Steve. I am. Of course I am. Everything in my life has changed for the better, and that's all because of you. You're everything to me. You hold me in your arms, and I'm home. So yeah, I'm sure", Bucky replied.Steve looked him in the eyes, and held him. And Bucky? Well, he was home.





	1. When We Were Young

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [After Hours](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685485) by [OhCaptainMyCaptain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhCaptainMyCaptain/pseuds/OhCaptainMyCaptain). 



July 7th, 1985.

He hated being the new kid. As if attending three different schools in his four years of schooling wasn't already bad enough, his family then decided they were moving to Brooklyn. Bucky was scared. The bullies were mean enough in Manhattan. He couldn’t even imagine how bad they’d be in Brooklyn.

Bucky’s parents, George and Winifred Barnes, were busy having a screaming match in the kitchen as they unpacked the dishes, which turned Bucky’s already-upset mood all the more sour. He remembered seeing a playground about two blocks away on the drive into the city, so he decided to take a walk.

Bucky didn't even realize how far he'd walked until he noticed the sky had gotten about three shades darker. By that point, he was pretty sure he was nowhere near his house, as the area had changed from city suburb, to a forest-infested, lake-like setting. He also realized that that first playground he had spotted was probably nowhere near his current location. But he didn't even care. If his parents really cared, then they would come and look for him.

Bucky eventually found a completely different park, and sat on the sole swing-set, just thinking. Thinking about his life; how hard it was, and how much harder it was going to get because of this new move. Bucky was only seven years old, but he was still anxious. It was a constant feeling, the anxiety, often brought on by his parents.

George was never home. He was always working, never had "time for fun", though Bucky remembers recently seeing him in front of a movie theatre with a blonde woman one night, when he had claimed to be in another city for a full day of meetings. And his mother? Well, she was unreliable, always off doing something.

He thought about how mature and grown up he’d had to become at seven, something he thought was incredibly unfair. He just wanted a normal childhood. When both his parents were gone on business, Bucky would have to order in his own dinner, and at one point, he had to take himself shopping for a new raincoat. In reality, the chauffeur had driven him, but he was still technically alone. Always alone.

He hated the fact that being a Barnes was one of the reasons he got picked on at school. The biggest reason was that he was wimpy; an easy target. He wouldn’t dare fight back, let alone initiate a fight himself. He thought about how up until that point in his life, he didn’t have a real friend. Someone who he could play with for all hours of the day, until it was time for bed. Before he could get deeper into thought, three kids came walking toward the swing set.

“We ain’t ever seen you around here before, what’s your name?” One of the boys asked.

“I’m Bucky, I’m new... Bucky Barnes”, he replied hesitantly. Then, one of the other boys chimed in.

“Hey, wow, he’s a ‘Barnes’. Better be careful with this one, he’s just going to run on back and tell his daddy.”

Bucky cringed at that.  
He’d been in this new borough for about three hours, and already this was happening. He needed to let them know he meant no harm, posed no threat.

“No, I wouldn’t tell on you guys… Did you wanna play or somethin’?”

Then, the third boy stood tall, and offered his two cents.

“We wouldn’t be caught dead playing with a ‘Barnes’. You’re trash, and you come from a trash family, so how about you just get up and get on out of here?” And with that, he lunged at Bucky.

Bucky lay there, taking hit after hit, until the pounding stopped, and the boys in his distorted view had vanished. He sat there in shock, a little disoriented from the hits, and looked up to see a new boy, who smiled at him and let out a hand for Bucky to grab. Bucky smiled back, blood pouring out of his left nostril.

“Hi, I’m Steve”, the boy said.

Bucky’s smile hadn’t faded. “Bucky. Barnes.” He said, immediately regretting that last part, in fear that this Steve kid would now pounce on him as well.

“A Barnes, hey? I ain’t never met a Barnes myself, but I've heard lots about your family. Anyways, don’t pay those scabs no mind, they’re the ones who are trash. Stick with me, and I’ll keep you safe.”

Bucky took a good look at Steve, and realized that he was just as small as Bucky in stature, if not smaller.

“Hey, how’d you get those boys to leave like that?” Bucky asked, now extremely curious. Those boys had looked like they got into fist fights on the daily. They looked tough; A lot tougher than Steve.

“I sent my neighbour's dog after them. He’s big, but harmless. They ran faster than I woulda ever thought. The dog ain't even scary! And they call us wimps?! Steve laughed, paused, and continued. "Are you only asking cause I look pretty small?" Bucky gave a smile, and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. it’s not like someone my size could’ve gone after them on my own, especially since I’m really sick”, he finished with a nervous laugh.

“Sick with what?” Bucky asked him, curiosity rising.

“How much time do you got, Bucky?”

Steve whistled for minutes until Lucky, the dog, returned, and fished in his pocket for a handkerchief Bucky could use to wipe up the blood.  
The two sat on the swings, and continued talking. They talked until it was pitch black, with nothing but the stars above serving as the only light. Not the best idea, considering Bucky really didn't know where he was, and he suspected that maybe, just maybe, his parents were already looking for him. But he genuinely didn't care...

Because at least he was with his new friend, Steve. The two agreed they should part ways for the night, but immediately made plans to meet back up at the same time and place the following day. Bucky, following Steve's directions, ran home, smiling from ear to ear, eager to get to sleep, and get the night over with. Bucky kept meeting up with Steve at that exact park for the rest of the summer. In time, he found a shortcut that wouldn't make the walk from his place to the park the regular 20-minute walk it had taken him the first time.

They played, talked, walked Lucky, swam in the lake that was just up a couple of roads from the actual park, went for ice cream, and the two even made each other friendship bracelets with elastics and beads one day.

Bucky was in complete awe of his new friend. Everything was fine, until one day, in the middle of August, Steve stopped showing up. Bucky wondered why, and unfortunately, he had no way of contacting Steve to ever find out. Even though he stopped showing up, Bucky returned to the playground every day, even after the school year began, in hopes that his friend, and hero, would return. But he never did.  
That was the last Bucky Barnes had heard of Steve Rogers... Until senior year of high school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my very first full length fic, and I'm very nervous about it!
> 
> I've kind of always written, but was never confident enough to post anything, so we'll see how this goes!


	2. Take Me Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night before senior year begins.  
> Some are excited, while others are on edge. 
> 
> "We’re seniors now, we’ve got to get through roughly 10 months of school, and then we’re out of here, right? It’s going to be a good year, I can feel it. Everything is going to work out exactly the way it’s supposed to, you’ll see."

_6:30pm, August 17th, 1995._

Bucky Barnes sat in the back of the charter bus, headphones in, listening to the tape in his Walkman.

He thought back on the amazing year he had just spent in Romania with his aunt and uncle.

He was able to explore, learn a little bit more of his family's history, was able to find himself a little more, but most importantly, he was able to get as far away as possible from all of the drama at Shield High School. He had decided to go to Romania for a number of different reasons, but the main reason was his mom and dad.

When Barnes Enterprises began to go under, family and friendships no longer mattered to George and Winifred Barnes, as long as they weren’t the ones taking the heat… or ending up in jail for fraud and embezzlement.  
Bucky could name more than a handful of old family friends that had gotten arrested as everything came crumbling down, old family friends whom he once considered actual family. Out of fear, his parents had moved him, and his little sister Rebecca, from relative to relative, until they were in the clear. It took a whole two years. Bucky was just thankful he had managed to keep his grades up, which meant he didn’t end up having to repeat seventh and eighth grade.

But then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, his parents had realized that they didn’t actually love each other, they just loved the money that both of their contributions to the company had made them. Because that was the main issue with his parents: money. The reason the company and all of their close relationships went to shit wasn't because his parents were bad people who went into it with bad intentions per se, but rather the money and wealth had gone to their heads.

It was a nasty divorce. Winifred took Rebecca, and left Bucky with George, something Bucky never managed to get over, no matter how much time passed.  
She’d just left, and left without leaving Bucky an explanation as to where they were going, and why she wouldn’t take him as well. Had it been his choice, Bucky would've chosen to go with her. Winifred wasn’t perfect, but she was a lot more perfect than George.

When the divorce had finalized, Bucky was entering his sophomore year at Shield High. Two other events happened that year, which fuelled Bucky’s need to leave Brooklyn behind, but they were both things he hadn’t thought of since before he left for Romania; Things he didn't want to think about ever again.

Just then, Bucky heard his Nokia 1011 going off in his backpack. It was Wanda.

“Hey, what’s going on? Bucky asked her, enthusiastically, very happy to be hearing her voice.

“Bucky, we haven’t talked since the beginning of the month! I called your aunt’s house earlier today, and she said you were on your way home! What gives?” She told him, more annoyed than anything. Bucky laughed; He really missed her voice.

“I know, I’m sorry. Look, I actually wasn’t going to come home; this was a spur of the moment decision. I wanted to surprise you and Nat tomorrow”, Bucky replied, hoping to have won her over.

“Ugh, okay fine, whatever. Just know that I love you, I’m really excited to see you, and I’m really fucking happy, my little plum.”

“I love you, too, bitch”, Bucky said to her, and, with one click of a button, ended the call.

Bucky smiled to himself, thinking about Wanda and Natasha.

Bucky met Wanda Maximoff in the 3rd grade, right after his summer with Steve. She had moved to Brooklyn from Sokovia with her parents, and twin brother, Pietro. The pair became fast friends.

They would stick up for each other whenever someone wanted to pick on Bucky for only being friends with girls, or whenever someone wanted to pick on Wanda for her accent.

Then, the pair met Natasha Romanoff when they moved to middle school together, two years later. The trio have been inseparable ever since.  
As bad as things were when he left, he knew he had a family in his two best friends, and he had his dad, though they hadn’t spoken in months, and Bucky was unsure if his dad would even be home. Nevertheless, Bucky was happy to be returning home.

 

* * *

  
_8:23pm, August 17th, 1995._

Steve Rogers sat at his tiny desk, “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan blasting through his boom box, working on potential plays for the upcoming football season.

He was lucky enough to make quarterback midway through the season during junior year, and he wanted to be extra prepared for his last year. He was also IM’ing Sam, who wouldn’t stop pestering him about how pumped he was to have finally made it to senior year:

 **TheFalcon18** : “Honestly man, I am pumped! LOL. Dont give me a hard time bout it, but im actually really proud of myself for getting here :-P”

 **CapRogers** : “Noo man, it’s cool. Don’t sweat it, you should be proud, we should all be proud. I think it’ll be a good year, I’m looking forward to it.”

 **TheFalcon18** : “I hope so LOL. Hows it goin with Sharon, u guys still seeing each other? U gettin’ any?”

 **CapRogers** : “Um, no you perv, haha. Still going slow, why rush?”

 **TheFalcon18** : “Maybe cuz its been like 6 months by now? What gives, haha?”

 **CapRogers** : “Nothing. Like I said, slow. I’ll see you tomorrow, man.”

Steve signed off. If only he could tell Sam the truth; Sam was his best friend after all.

Steve met Sam Wilson when he transferred to Shield High during junior year, back in August of 1994. It was perfect timing too, since Sam’s best friend Riley had just moved back to Ohio. Sam, basically friendless, and Steve, a newbie, were two of the only new guys trying out for football that year. They became best friends instantly, and have grown pretty close since then.

As much as Steve wanted to tell Sam about him, and the truth about him and Sharon, he couldn’t. Not yet. He was really scared about how Sam would react.  
Steve knew how his other friends on the football team, particularly Rumlow, Pierce, and Loki, felt about gay people, but the topic had never been brought up around Sam. Steve didn’t want to risk losing him, or Clint.

Sam and Steve met Clint Barton in music class during junior year. They noticed he was wearing a hearing aid, and when the class was over, the three started talking, and Clint mentioned how even though he was deaf, he’d loved music for as long as he could remember. He told them his hearing aids helped, and he could still feel the music being played. Music helped him escape the horrors of living with his abusive father. Thanks to Clint, Steve had learnt to play the guitar, and thanks to Steve, Clint joined the football team as well. The guy had killer aim.

Both Sam and Clint were important to him, and he was happy where he was: quarterback, really popular, and well-liked.  
He didn’t want the secret of him being gay to leak and risk losing all of it. He'd worked too hard to build his reputation, and he had done a great job maintaining it in the one year he’d been attending Shield High. And for it to all come crumbling down now? He wouldn’t be able to handle it.As he sat there in deep thought, the phone began to ring:

“Hello, Osborn residence”, Steve said through the phone, sounding a little too perky for his own taste.

“It’s me,” Norman replied. “We’re having people over in a couple of hours, so if you could get the house cleaned up, and then just stay in your room, or leave the house, that’s your choice, that’d be great. I’ve got to get going now.”

Steve sat there; phone still pressed to his ear, looking at the floor. He sighed heavily, and jumped into his small twin bed, laying face down into his pillow.  
Every other thing he had just been worrying about didn't matter anymore. In that moment, he just really missed his mom and dad.  
He wanted to clear his head, and he apparently had to be out of the house anyways, so he decided to get into his car and drive. He didn’t know where he was going; he just wanted to drive. 

* * *

  
_8:56pm, August 17th, 1995._

  
Bucky had been in a cab, just blocks away from his house this time, when Wanda called him again.

“Again? Wanda, you’re the one who’s going to buy me a new cell phone when this one craps out! What’s up?” Bucky said to her, annoyed that she had been racking up his minutes and battery life.

“It’s Natasha, you ass face!” Natasha replied. “And sorry by the way, but I just received the news that you were coming back, and I got too excited, and wanted to hear your voice”, she added, sweetly.

“Sorry, Nat,” he chuckled. “And yes, it’s true. It was supposed to be a secret, but then Wanda called earlier”, he explained.

“It’s cool, look I’ve got to get going anyways, but I will see your sexy face in the morning, alright?” Natasha declared, and left Wanda’s house, though the call stayed on-going.

“Bucky, you still there?” Wanda questioned.

“Yeah, I’m here’, he replied. “Sort of glad you guys called, to be honest”, he admitted.

“Why, what’s going on?” She asked.

“Well, now that I’m actually in the city, I’m starting to doubt my decision. I’m a little nervous.”

“Bucky,” Wanda said sympathetically, before continuing on. “You have nothing to be nervous about, babe. It’ll all be okay. We all missed you so much, and you know as well as I know it was time for you to come home. You belong here in Brooklyn. It’s going to be a great year, full of surprises.” She said, sounding proud of her advice. But her last sentence had sparked flashbacks in Bucky’s mind.

“No. God knows I don’t need any more surprises in my life”, he said, looking to his left arm, deep in thought.

“Bucky, I promise you. Nothing like what happened during sophomore year is going to happen this year. You have my word. We’re seniors now, we’ve just got to get through roughly ten more months of school, and then we’re out of here, right? It’s going to be a good year, I can feel it. Everything is going to work out exactly the way it’s supposed to, you’ll see” she told him, and with that, said her goodbyes.

Bucky threw his head back, and closed his eyes for the remaining 11 minutes of his cab ride. He wanted to be optimistic, but it was hard. So much had happened sophomore year… So much that Bucky was still getting over it, but Wanda was right: just ten months of school, and they were gone.

The cab pulled in to Bucky’s driveway. The sun was setting, and the Brooklyn air surrounded him. The driver helped him get his suitcases out of the trunk, and drove off.

Bucky looked up at his house, a house he just barely recognized. Clearly his dad was having trouble maintaining its’ appearance. Just then, a navy blue 1993 Ford Festiva drove by. The driver made eye contact with Bucky.

“He looks familiar”, Steve thought to himself.

“Hmm, cute”, Bucky thought to himself, and walked into his old house, luggage in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have a set plan created for each chapter. Meaning, I know exactly what is going to happen, and when it's going to happen! :D (For now, I have 20 chapters planned).
> 
> Another update:  
> Each title is going to be the name of a song that reminds me of Steve and Bucky, and their relationship. Some old songs, some current songs, yeah.
> 
> I hope that part with Sam and Steve IM'ing wasn't too cringe. Oh, who am I kidding? A lot of this is going to be cringe, haha. I'm going for typical, cheesy, romantic, high school story.
> 
> Hopefully I can write enough material within the actual chapters, for them to be longer than this one, and chapter 1. 
> 
> If you wanna join this whole ride with me, that'd be really cool.  
> I have some good ideas, so hopefully they're executed out nicely, and you enjoy reading them (':
> 
> Feedback would be much appreciated, thanks for reading!❤


	3. Who Are You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their last first day of school. Shouldn't this be a fun, carefree day?
> 
> Not for Steve and Bucky, because both boys each have stuff they know they're going to have deal with sooner or later.

_6:45am, August 18 th, 1995._

Bucky, along with half of the teenage population of Brooklyn, woke up the following morning and got himself ready for school.   
He got out of bed, almost tripping over all of the contents of his open suitcase, all sprawled out in different sections on the floor, and went to the bathroom to relieve himself.

He reminded himself to be extra quiet while getting ready, because surely, his dad was still sleeping, just as he had been when Bucky came in the night before. He had a shower, brushed his teeth, picked out an outfit, and looked in the mirror for a minute. He rolled his sleeves up, and looked down at his left arm, running his right hand over it slowly, before pulling the left sleeve back down.

He told himself that his first day back was going to be great, and to not dwell on what happened… Everything that caused him to leave. He laughed, thinking about what Wanda and Natasha would say about his new haircut he had gotten a couple of days prior to returning. They were huge fans of his longer hair, but he needed a change.

He grabbed the few things he’d need for the day, and headed for the kitchen.   
Because he figured his dad was now upstairs in his own room, rather than the couch like last night, he let himself be noisier when fishing through the fridge.

Just then, he heard the faint sound of a glass object rattling on the living room floor. He wasn’t exactly sure if it was real, or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, until he heard it again.

Plum in hand, Bucky walked into the living room and saw his father lying on the couch, asleep, but this time, with a bottle of whisky pressed to his chest, and an empty one tipped over on the floor by his dangling leg.

He stared at George for what was probably only two minutes, but felt like a full thirty to him. His head began to throb, and his heart began to beat at an impeccably fast rate. A million things were running through his mind.

“Should I wake him up? Ask him what the hell is going on? What the fuck he’s doing with all those bottles?”

But he’s not an idiot. Bucky knew what they meant. What the mess meant. But why?  
He looked in the direction of the clock, and ultimately decided against waking him up and asking him.   
“I’ll deal with it later”, he thought to himself.  
He shut the door behind him, and set off for his last first day of school, trying to block his father out of his thoughts… At least for the time being.  
 

* * *

  
_7:30am, August 18th, 1995._

Steve pulled into the school parking lot, the spots to the right of his all filled with cars belonging to other guys on the football team, as well as some of the cheerleaders.

He grabbed his binder, and spotted a group of people near Brock Rumlow’s Acura Integra, consisting of Rumlow, Pierce, Loki, as well as Gwen, Jessica, Jane, and Sharon.

He had wanted to avoid them altogether, maybe run inside to see if he could find Sam and Clint. He didn’t feel like dealing with them this early in the morning. But it wasn’t long until he was spotted.  
“Hey, Rogers, get your ass over here!” Rumlow shouted at Steve. Steve walked towards them slowly.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” Steve asked, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Pfft, check this guy out. ‘Hey guys, how’s it going?’ he asks, as if we just talked yesterday or some shit”, Loki added, mockingly. Steve was way confused by Loki’s comment, though in his defense, he had just woken up.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Steve asked Loki, shooting him an unwelcoming look, but attempting to come off as playful.

“Rogers, we haven’t seen you in over a month. What up? You been avoiding us?” Pierce asked him.  
Steve opened his mouth to answer, hesitating. Luckily, Sharon cut in to save him.

 “Of course he hasn’t been avoiding you, I’ve just been taking up all his free time the past couple of weeks.”  
The three guys high fived and cheered, which resulted in scoffs and eye rolls from their respective girlfriends.

Sharon collected her bag, told the group they were both leaving, and walked inside with Steve by her side.   
Once they were in the building, they knew they were in the clear.

“Thank you, Sharon. I definitely owe you one”, Steve told her.

“Oh, Rogers. At this point, you owe me at least a good 50”, she replied, chuckling.

“I know, I know. And I know I probably sound like a broken record by now, but for what it’s worth, again, I really appreciate everything you’re doing”, he said to her, flashing those bright baby blues to the floor in shyness, and then back at her.

“I know, Steve. I told you, I get it. No worries. See you around”, she replied sweetly, placing a hand on his shoulder, and then swinging her backpack over her shoulder and walking away.

Last May, Steve had gotten himself in to some pretty hot water, and Sharon had unwillingly got caught in the mess with him.

When Steve transferred to Shield High School back in the fall of 1994, he befriended everyone on the team himself, except for the three most popular guys on the team. They had approached him first. And it was a big deal to Steve.

Brock Rumlow, Alexander Pierce, and Loki Laufeyson had been the golden boys of Shield High (only in terms of sports, of course); they were dating the most popular cheerleaders in the school: Gwen Stacy, Jessica Jones, and Jane Foster; they had led the football team to two championships by the time Steve arrived; they were popular; they were rich; they had it all.

But they were horrible human beings. Bullies. Of course, Steve didn’t know that at the time. Once he started to see it, he initially ignored it, pretended he took joy in it just as much as they did, but that wasn’t the case at all. Steve was the type of person who never liked or tolerated bullies. He had been that way ever since he was a kid.

So, when one day after practice last May they wouldn’t stop badgering Steve about his dating life, and then began to poke noses in the rest of his personal life, a spur of the moment decision had led Steve to blurt out that he had secretly been dating Sharon. This led to even more questions from the guys that Steve had even less answers for.

Then, when the news had spread, Sharon had furiously cornered Steve in the empty locker room, until he explained why he did what he did, coming out to her in the process.

Steve didn’t know why he hadn’t told her sooner, as Sharon and him had clicked since the day they met, and her brother was gay, so she of all people understood. Because she truly cared for him, and knew he was one of the good guys, she had agreed to be his beard.  It had been his first year there, and he didn’t want any trouble at all.

But by the time the school year was ending, Steve couldn’t take the guys’ bullying anymore. It had everyday, to random people, some they knew, and some they didn’t. He decided to just stay amicable with Rumlow, Pierce, and Loki, so as to not rock the boat. He had Sam and Clint, and those two were true friends. But still, having to pretend to be on good terms with those other idiots was hard.

Steve went to his locker, dropped off some things he wouldn’t need until later in the day, and began walking to his first class, eyes down at his class schedule, passing his new favourite vending machine that sold the new cherry coke.

Bucky, Wanda, and Nat walked down the hall, Bucky looking down at his schedule, all three turning the corner at the newest vending machine.

“Oh my god, and Bucky, you’ll be very happy to hear that this new vending machine sells cherry coke! Only one in the school.” Wanda said to him, knowing fully that this statement would result in a positive reaction from Bucky.

“Thank the lord, you guys know how much I love cherry coke!” Bucky said, extremely content.

They ended up at Bucky’s locker, where the two girls badgered Bucky with more questions about his trip and his homecoming, while he settled into it.

“So, tell us more, Buck. We haven’t exactly talked to you since the beginning of August, and whenever we did talk while you were away, you really didn’t tell us much”, Natasha said.

“There’s really not much to tell. I had a good time away. Like I told you, my aunt home-schooled me the first semester to catch me up with my Romanian, so that I didn’t have to worry about falling behind, and second semester I was enrolled in this little high school in the town they lived in. When the time came, they asked me if I was going to stay another year, and I wanted to, but I told them I had unfinished business here… With my dad, with you two. It wouldn’t have felt right graduating without my best girls by my side”, Bucky replied, hoping the subject would just drop then and there. 

Wanda and Natasha both “awe’d” at Bucky, who in turn laughed at their reaction.

“Are we still going to your house after school today, Wanda?” Bucky asked.  
“Of course, just meet me out by the car once school is over”, Wanda replied.

Bucky took his history book out of his locker, and told them he’d meet them for lunch later on before walking away. Bucky was suddenly really looking forward to the end of the day.

He wanted to tell them more about his year away, he really did. He wasn’t lying about how not much had happened to him over there in Romania, but Wanda and Natasha didn’t even know every reason that resulted in Bucky leaving. And in all honesty, now that he was back, he was constantly reminding himself that he had run away. He didn’t toughen it out. He chose to leave, and he had missed an entire year with his best friends, all because of some high school drama, some family drama, and a horrible car accident.

Not to mention, he hadn’t been able to get his dad out of his mind all day. He hadn’t spoken to his dad in weeks, which had Bucky’s mind even more in knots. How long had his dad been drinking? Was it just those two bottles? Was that why he hadn’t picked up the phone the many times Bucky had tried to call him the last couple of weeks?

He decided to go the bathroom and splash some cold water onto his face. He had a long day ahead of him. He just needed to relax.  
 

* * *

 

_1:55, August 18th, 1995._

  
It was the last period of the day. Gym. And because it was a beautiful day, Coach T’Challa insisted the class be spent outside. If any other teacher had done this, it would have annoyed Bucky, but he liked Coach T, ever since he had insisted that the students call him that, instead of Coach Udaku.

And because Bucky has the best karma in the world, he happened to be in the exact same 6th period gym class as Rumlow, Pierce, and Loki.

The three glanced at him as they walked onto the football field, and shot him intimidating looks. These three were one of the reasons he left, and now here they were. As well as his morning had gone, he suddenly felt the need to get the fuck out of there.

For lack of a better idea, Bucky turned to leave, but ended up walking straight into another guy, maybe an inch shorter than him, but definitely his age.   
The two fell to the ground.

“God, I’m sorry, man”, Bucky said, touching his own forehead that was now aching. 

Peter laughed. “No, it’s fine, honest.” He quickly noticed Bucky’s nervous demeanour as the two awkwardly nodded to one another.  
“Hey, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost?.”

Bucky glanced in the direction of the three idiot dirt bags who were a little farther down the field, and then back to Peter. “I guess you could say that.”   
Peter noticed this, and gave Bucky a knowing smile.

“It’s those three, isn’t it? They the reason you were about to ditch?” Bucky seemed to have forgotten that those three hadn’t just terrorized him, but almost the entire school, and they have been doing it since freshmen year, when they walked through the doors. So, duh. Of course this kid knew who they were.   
“Yeah… It’s a long story.”

Just then, Coach T walked up to the thirty-or-so students, and told them that to kick off the class, they had to run laps around the football field.   
“Why don’t you talk me through it while we run laps?” Peter flashed Bucky a big, friendly smile. “Oh, I’m Peter, by the way.”   
Bucky returned the smile. “I’m Bucky.”  
 

* * *

  
“So, lunch tomorrow?” Bucky turned around to ask Peter, who was getting his regular clothes out of his gym locker.   
Peter nodded. “Yeah, for sure. I’ll meet you in the caf.”

Bucky walked out of the locker room, bag of clothes and binder in hand. He figured he’d be able to shower at Wanda’s. He just wanted to leave already.  
Once Bucky turned the corner to exit the locker room, a certain blonde walked in through the opposite doors.  
   
“Yo, Steve, come here a minute”, Rumlow whispered, loud enough so that only Steve would be able to hear.

Steve rolled his eyes to himself. He didn’t expect to see these guys again for the rest of the day after their second period math class.  
“Hey, you guys seen Sam and Clint?”

“They left already”, Loki said. Steve rolled his eyes again, and let out a pained sigh.

“Hey, Steve. See Peter over there?” Rumlow pointed to Peter, who was fishing out a towel from his locker. “You haven’t exactly fucked around with us this summer, and we’ve been thinking: How about you go on over there and prove to us that you’re still with us?”

Steve’s face was flushed, and he was speechless. He wasn’t the same guy he was when he had first transferred to Shield High, and became their friend. He wasn’t that guy anymore. But these guys thought he still was. To be honest, in that moment, he didn’t know who he was. And if he's being completely honest, he hasn't really known who he's been since he became friends with them.

“It’s the first day of school! What do you expect me to do to him?” Steve asked them, not at all hiding his disgust at the idea.  
“Do what you did to him last year”, Pierce chimed in, resulting in all three of them laughing.

Rumlow stood up, walking slowly towards Steve, trying to intimidate him.  
Just two rows over, Peter began walking towards the showers.

“Look, are you with us, or not? Because I would really hate it if we couldn’t count on you this year, Steve. Having to start a war within the team, having to watch that captain position be given to someone else? That’d be tough.” Rumlow told him, staring him dead in the eye, and gesturing towards the showers.  
Steve looked over towards Peter, and gulped. He had an inner battle with himself over what to do. He chose the coward way out. He let them win.

“Pass me that can of shaving cream.”   
 

* * *

  
_4:35pm, August 18th, 1995_  
   
Bucky, Natasha, and Wanda sat in Wanda’s room, sprawled out on the bed, with various snacks in the middle of them.

“You guys seriously need to stop badgering me with questions”, Bucky said, sighing. “How about you guys fill me in on what was going on around here?”  
The girls looked at each other blankly, as if mutually agreeing that in all honesty, nothing really major had happened during Bucky’s absence.

“Well, besides Natasha dating that kid, Thor, and Ms. Hill having her baby and going on maternity leave, not much has happened. That is, of course, not much in our lives at least”, Wanda told him.

“Oh, please, can we not? I’d consider that more of a brief fling instead of an actual relationship, Wanda”, Natasha replied.

The three of them laughed, Bucky spitting out a little cherry coke onto his shirt. The three of them knew just how bad Natasha’s relationship with Thor was. It’s not that she didn’t genuinely like him, but he turned out to be way more than she had bargained for.

He would also leave for days at a time, and then show up like nothing had happened.

“Besides, I’ve kind of got my eye on someone else right now”, she shared.

Bucky and Wanda looked at her with wide eyes, shocked.  
“Who?” They said simultaneously.

“Bruce Banner. I had history with him last year. He was really sweet to me throughout the whole semester, and today I found out he’s in my biology class. Give me a couple of weeks, and I’ll have him right where I want him.”  
While Wanda scoffed, albeit in a loving way, Bucky smiled in admiration. One of the many things he admired about both of his best friends was their confidence.

“Back to earlier, can I just say how amazing it is that Ms. Peggy is covering for Ms. Hill’s art class for the entire year? You guys know she’s my favourite teacher, and the best guidance counsellor to walk the halls of Shield High. She was such a huge help back during… All of that stuff, and now she’s teaching my favourite subject", Bucky said.

“I forgot she helped you through all of that bullshit. I knew there was a reason I always liked her”, Wanda replied to Bucky.  
Just then, the doorbell rang. Wanda and Natasha both leapt out of bed to get the pizza they had ordered earlier, while Bucky stayed behind, lying flat out on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

During their last year of junior high, Bucky helped Wanda hang twinkling stars along her ceiling. She told Bucky it was because she wanted to add something cute to the room, but he suspected it was because she’d been afraid of the dark since she was a kid. Whenever the weather was bad and they couldn’t go outside and lay on her roof to watch the stars at night like they normally did, they would lie on her bed and just stare at her ceiling.  
"What a beautiful sight”, a voice from the doorway said. It was Pietro.

Bucky hadn’t heard from Pietro in a while. They had a million and one things to discuss, but Bucky decided that wasn’t the time, or the place. So, he pushed all of those thoughts aside.

“I know. Wanda’s stars are so pretty, especially when the lights are out”, Bucky replied.

“I didn’t mean the stars.”

Bucky’s cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. He looked down, biting his lip.  
“I missed you, Buck. So fucking much”, Pietro said, slowly approaching the bed.

Bucky shuffled, collecting himself from the bed and moving backwards to the window.

“Me too, Pietro.” Bucky said, pulling his sleeve farther down his left arm.

Pietro noticed the change in his demeanour, and stopped in his tracks, leaning on Wanda’s bureau.  
“Did you have fun?”

Bucky snickered, shooting him a less than pleased look, eyebrows furrowing.

“Fun? I didn’t go to Romania for fun. I didn’t just wake up one morning, and say ‘Hey, you know what’d be a lot of fun? Leaving everything and everyone behind and going to Romania for a year because everything in Brooklyn is going to shit, and I almost died!’”

Pietro broke eye contact with him.

“I’m sorry, Bucky. You know I didn’t mean that in a bad way, or anything. I just wanted to know how it went, and how you were. It’s not like you ever answered my phone calls.”

Guilt washed over Bucky within an instant.

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be such an asshole just now.” Bucky said. “I know that we have a lot to talk about, but we can’t do it right now”, he said.  
Pietro walked up to him as he had originally planned too, took his left arm in his hands, and rubbed it slowly, soothingly.

“Well, you know where to find me", he replied, looking at Bucky with his blue eyes full of lust.

At that moment, they heard the girls running back up the stairs, and immediately put distance between them.  
“Who wants pizza?” Natasha yelled, holding up the box as if she had won it as a first place prize playing skee ball.

“Can I have a slice?” Pietro asked, eyeing the box.

“Of course you can, I paid for it with the 20$ I swiped from your wallet earlier”, Wanda replied to him, shooting him a devilish grin.  
Just as he began to go off on her, Bucky was hit with a huge realization.

"My wallet! Fuck, it’s in my gym locker! And I have a note to get signed that I need to return to Mrs. Van Dyne tomorrow!” He screamed.

“I’m always saving you, Barnes. Get your coat, if we hurry up, maybe we can get there before all of the after school practices finish”, Wanda said, grabbing a slice of pizza to go.  
 

* * *

  
None of the indoor after-school club practices were still going on by the time Bucky got there. He was lucky enough that Ms. Peggy was still there, and heard him banging on the south wing door, closest to the gymnasium and the locker room.

She had told him she was so happy to see that he had returned, before excusing herself, as she was late for a doctor’s appointment.  
Bucky reached the locker room and made his way to his locker, punching in the combo, and pulling out his wallet. He slid it into his back pocket, and began to walk out, until he heard banging and screams coming from a locker two rows away.

“Who’s there?” Bucky asked, pondering whether this was someone in need of help, or if it was some sort of a trap.

“Um, I’m Peter, could I get some help please?”

Bucky was filled with worry, and rushed to the locker.  
“Pete? It’s Bucky!”

Peter sighed in relief. Bucky heard him sniffle; maybe also wipe away a tear in the process. “Thank god it’s you, Bucky!” Peter shouted, and then proceeded to give Bucky his combination.

Bucky opened the door to find Peter in nothing but his boxers, covered head to toe in shaving cream. The kid looked like he’d just walked through a damn car wash or something.

“Damn it, Peter! Who did this to you?” The worry Bucky had been feeling seconds earlier had been replaced with anger and rage.  
Bucky took a step to a rack of towels, and handed one to Peter.

“No one, just some football jerk, I don’t think know him”, Peter said, scraping off all of the shaving cream from his face.

“Are you okay? Did he do anything else to you?” The fact that Peter and Bucky just met was irrelevant. He was genuinely concerned for his friend. Any normal person with a soul would’ve been.

“Nah, he just shoved me into here, and started spraying me. Used up a whole can. But it was weird. He looked sad. Like maybe he really didn’t want to be doing it, but that’s crazy thinking, right?” Peter’s words grew frantic.

Bucky gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m not sure, Peter. But if he didn’t want to be doing it, then he wouldn’t have done it. I try not to judge, or label, but this exact reason is why I don’t trust a single person on the football team…” Bucky trailed off, helping Peter clean himself up.

“From now on, you don’t leave the locker room after gym until I’m with you. God knows I’ll need some back up too if this is how it’s going to be. How’s that sound?”

Peter smiled. “Sounds good.”

Once he was all cleaned up, the two boys heard the football team making their way into the locker room to clean themselves up after practice.  
They ran out, and were in the clear once they were in the main hallway.

Bucky offered Peter a ride, but Peter insisted he ride his bike home. He couldn't risk it getting stolen.  
Once Peter took off, Bucky also remembered he had a sheet of homework that he left in his locker. It was the first day of school, he still wasn’t in the right mindset yet. As he retrieved the sheet from his locker, he saw them again: Rumlow, Pierce, and Loki in their letterman jackets, and their girlfriends, Gwen, Jane, Jessica, and Sharon in their uniforms.

“The picture perfect high school cliché”, he thought to himself, shaking his head in disgust. They all noticed Bucky, too. Luckily for him, they just ignored his presence.

Just as Bucky closed his locker, he watched as a blonde guy walked up towards the group. Once the blonde approached them, they all walked out together.

The blonde absent-mindedly gazed in Bucky’s direction on their way out, making eye contact.

“He looks familiar”, Bucky thought to himself.

“Cute”, Steve said to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally had some free time to work on chapter 3!
> 
> I hope it doesn't feel like it's dragging on too long. I just felt like I needed Bucky to re-transition back into his Brooklyn life before letting them meet.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: If you picked up on those "Bucky's left arm" references: he was in a car accident. Yet another piece of the messed up puzzle that was sophomore year.


	4. It's You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve kept his gaze fixed on the image, a small smile forming on his face.  
> “Holy shit. It really was him”, he said out loud to himself. 
> 
> Bucky and Steve meet again, but things don't go the way Bucky hoped they would.

“Steve, stop!” Bucky laughed out, due to the water being splashed his way.

“Okay, okay, sorry”, Steve said, lifting his hands up in surrender.

The two were sitting by the lake that was a ways down the road behind a huge hedge of bushes from the Prospect Lake campground, where the boys first met. It’s almost like you wouldn’t know there was a lake there unless you actually KNEW it was there, which Steve and Bucky both thought was weird for a place whose name included the word ‘lake’. It seems like the main attraction for that park was the actual campground area.

The lake was always empty. There was nothing around it, except for the small, always-vacant parking lot that overlooked the water. Bucky and Steve had only ever seen people there maybe three or four times the whole summer, and they hadn’t seen those people back since.

The boys sat, eating their ice cream cones they had gotten on their walk there, and looked at the water.

“You excited for school to start back up soon?” Steve, who had ice cream all over his mouth, asked Bucky.

"No. I’m a little scared ‘cause of math. Last year, my teacher started getting us ready for our times tables, and I just wasn’t getting it! Told her I’d practice with my mom all summer… But that didn’t happen,” Bucky said, trailing off slowly in deep thought.

“Bucky, I coulda helped! I’m the best at math! Ask me any question!”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “What’s 6x6?”

"Easy! It’s 66. I told you I’m a math genius. I’m here all week, let your friends and family know!” Steve said, earning a huge laughing fit from Bucky.

Both boys knew that 66 definitely wasn’t the answer to that one.

“Your mom going to have the baby soon?” Steve asked.

“Yup, pretty soon, maybe at the very end of the summer? I dunno when exactly, but I’m excited! The baby means she’s gonna be home now, until she’s ready enough to go back to work”, Bucky answered excitedly.

Despite everything negative that was happening with Bucky and his parents before, the baby had changed everything.

They had told him the day after they arrived to Brooklyn that Winifred was already 5 months pregnant. They had waited that long because she had already suffered a miscarriage before Bucky was born, and didn’t want to tell him before they were past the first trimester. But then during the third month, there were brief complications. They didn’t want to excite him, and then have to explain what happened. After a couple weeks of antibiotics, the doctors assured the Barnes’ that the baby would be born no problem.

“I’m happy for you! Can’t wait to meet her, and see ya be a good big brother to her!” Steve said smiling.

“I can’t wait for you to meet her, either”, Bucky said.

It was quiet for a couple of minutes. A good, relaxing type of quiet. Then, an alarm broke that silence, and Steve spoke up.

“Well, I should get going”, Steve said, getting up and walking away.

“Wait! Will you be back tomorrow?” Bucky asked.

Steve turned his head around slowly, his demeanour quickly changing. “Absolutely not… Why would I come back? You’re a pathetic piece of shit.”

Bucky stared at him in disbelief, sweat seeping through his hairline.

A dream. That’s all it was.

Bucky shot himself upwards, breathing heavily, turning off his alarm clock, hair now drenched.

He had just dreamt of the last day he ever saw Steve Rogers, except the dream didn’t end the same way it had ended in real life. What really happened was Steve hugged him goodbye, and told him he’d be back the same time tomorrow, the same way he’d done every day since they’d met.

But he hadn’t come back.

Bucky hadn’t even thought of Steve Rogers, or that summer, since freshman year of high school. So why was he suddenly having a dream about him?   
Bucky rubbed his eyes, and got up to get ready for school, which proved to be quite difficult, since the image of Steve’s face was still floating around in his mind.

* * *

  
 _7:25am, August 19th, 1995._  
   
Bucky was washing some strawberries, still thinking about Steve, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs; very slow footsteps

It was George. Bucky had already been back for more than 24 hours, but this was the first time his father was actually going to grace him with his presence.

George stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes attempting to meet Bucky’s.

“Hi, Buck.”

Bucky could barely find the words. “Hi”, is all he could muster.

George began walking towards Bucky to give him a hug. Bucky let him, but he didn’t reciprocate it. George let go, stood there and looked as though he had something to say. But Bucky spoke first.

“Dad, you know I’ve been home since Sunday night, right?” His facial expression was cold, and though he couldn’t see it himself, he knew how bad it must have looked. George looked back down to the ground.

“Yeah. Your aunt called yesterday, and she let me know.”

Bucky could feel the tears rising, but he tried his hardest not to let them fall.

“So then why has it taken you this long to come and talk to me? Are you even _here_  to talk to me? Or are you just out of alcohol?” Bucky knew he’d live to regret that one. His father didn’t deserve that. Bucky was just pissed.

George cringed at his son’s words. “It’s a long story, Bucky. But it's nothing major, I swear. You know me, pal”, George said, frown slowly transitioning to smirk.

Bucky really didn’t want to, but he decided he’d give his dad the benefit of the doubt. He couldn’t do anything about it even if he tried, and who knows, maybe his dad _wasn't_ lying.

Bucky and his dad had had a strained relationship since his mom and sister left. George tried to be a good dad to Bucky, but he never gave his 100%. That’s why it was so easy for Bucky to pick up and leave to Romania.

George pulled out Bucky’s slip that he had noticed on the table when he came in the night before, all signed and everything.

Bucky gathered his stuff, grabbed his keys, and headed out for school, telling George he’d talk to him later. Once he got into his car, he started crying. He just couldn’t help it.  
 

* * *

  
 Bucky walked into school, and made his way to Wanda and Natasha’s lockers. They had coincidentally gotten lockers right next to one another on the first day back in freshman year, and luckily, haven’t had to ever switch.

They both looked his way, flashing him huge smiles, Wanda pulling him into a hug.

“Hi, hon. We were just talking about potential extracurriculars to join this year’”, Wanda said as she ended the physical contact between them.

Bucky laughed out loud. “Extracurriculars? You two?” He kept laughing, this time laughing loud enough to earn looks from kids passing by. “Since when have either of you liked being at school for more than the mandatory six hours? Or liked talking to people more than you have to?”

Both girls shot him dirty looks, dirty enough to get him stop laughing.

“We’re not doing them for fun, Barnes-” Natasha spoke up, and then got cut off by Wanda.

“We’re doing them for our college applications. This is shit we have to start thinking about as soon as possible, so that we’re not scrambling by the time school’s actually done.”

Bucky threw his hands up in surrender, and nodded in agreement just as the nastiest gashes in the entire school walked up to them.  
Gwen Stacy, Jessica Jones, Jane Foster, and Sharon Carter. For whatever reason, those girls hated Wanda and Natasha ever since they first met them back in freshman year. If you were to ask Bucky, he’d say it’s because they were jealous.

Wanda and Natasha didn’t have to join the cheerleading squad, or be straight up bitches, to get attention like THEY did. They got it by being genuinely nice, and friendly people.

Bucky, Wanda, and Natasha had actually known Sharon Carter since junior high. They were surprised to see that she had become one of the many devil incarnates that walked the halls of Shield High School back in the fall of 1992. She used to be really nice.

Gwen, the leader, was the first to open her mouth. “Hey, twincest sisters. So, the cheer squad is in serious need of new members, and Coach Valkyrie told us we had to campaign to every girl in the school”, she took a pause.

"Even though we didn’t want to”, mumbled Jane, earning a cold-as-ice look from Gwen, as she continued her rant.

“So, if you two lipstick lesbians are bored of the whole angsty teen girl act, just let us know, and we’ll be glad to get you both a pair of pom-poms with your names on ‘em”, she said, grinning devilishly.

Bucky stood there wide eyed, and attempted to rebuttal. “Listen, I don’t know what kind of power trip you trash bags think you’re on-”, Jessica cut him off.  
“I’m sorry, fruit basket, but I don’t think she was talking to you.”

Gwen raised her hands in surrender, apologized for Jessica’s comment (though she clearly didn't mean it), quickly reminded Wanda and Nat of her proposition, and then walked away with her girls at her side.

Bucky, Wanda, and Natasha stared in their direction, heads tilted.

“What I would give to see those raggedy, dollar store Barbies fall off of the social pyramid at this school”, Natasha said, laughing.

“So, are you guys going to do it? Are you going to join the cheerleading squad?” Bucky asked.

“Not to be rude, but are you fucking crazy, Barnes? Why would we ever do that?” Wanda replied.

Bucky sighed, and then laughed to himself. “Well, to quote a specific someone, you could do it 'to put on your college applications. This is shit you have to start thinking about as soon as possible, so that you’re not scrambling by the time school’s actually done’”, Bucky recited back to them.

He then grabbed a piece of gum out of Wanda’s locker, and looked at them once more, ignoring their glares.

“All I’m saying is that if you have to join an extracurricular, you might as well join cheerleading and give those idiots a run for their money while you’re at it.”  
Wanda and Natasha looked at each other somewhat deviously.

Then their look ended, and Natasha turned to Bucky. “If we join the cheer squad, then YOU have to join football.”  
Both Bucky and Wanda started laughing. “Yeah, sure. Bucky throwing wide one’s down to Steve on the other end of the field? Buy me a ticket to that show!” Wanda said.

But Bucky’s laughing came to a halt. Steve.

“Wanda, what did you say?” Who? On the other end of that football field?”

Wanda and Natasha both stopped their fits of laughter as well, but mostly out of confusion. “Steve? Why?” She replied.

“Steve who?” He could feel his cheeks growing slightly coloured at his sudden eagerness.

“Steve Rogers? Why are you spazzing?” Wanda said, laughing and staring at him wide-eyed.  
   
Steve Rogers.

Clearly Bucky’s dream had happened for a reason. It was some sort of a… Reminder? Wake up call? Fate? He couldn’t find the correct term.

“Steve Rogers”, he whispered a good four, or five times, lost in deep thought.

Wanda and Natasha stared at him like he was on acid or something.

“Wanda, come on! Steve? Steve Rogers? Summer of 85’? Ring any bells?” Bucky was so hyped up at this point.

Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth moved into an ‘o’ shape. “Holy shit, Buck! Steve Rogers was your summer boy!”

“Yes. He was.”

Natasha’s confusion ruined the moment. “Wait, what? I’m so confused! Steve is your _what_?”

Bucky glared at her. Wanda took it upon herself to remind Natasha about it all. Bucky had talked about Steve to both of them multiple times throughout the years, but he hadn’t done so since before high school started. He couldn’t really be mad at Natasha for not remembering.

“So, Bucky, what are you going to do?” Wanda asked. Bucky was hit with a wave of realization.  
What exactly  _could_  he do?

He couldn’t just walk up to Steve and expect to jump in right where they left off. Even if he was lucky to have a proper conversation with him, there was no guarantee that Steve would remember Bucky, or everything they’d shared all those years ago. Besides, it was Steve who’d stopped showing up. Maybe he’d stopped showing up for a reason.

Bucky looked up at them. “I’m not going to do anything, you guys. I’m getting ahead of myself. I have to be realistic about all of this. He probably doesn’t even remember me.”

They both nodded, and agreed. But then Wanda put her hand on his shoulder.

“Fine, but will you promise that if the opportunity arises, you will at least try to talk to him, and  _attempt_  to bring it up?”

“Sure thing”, he replied.

But Steve was apparently this popular football player now, and Bucky? Well, Bucky was Bucky. He was the exact opposite. They lived on two different planets. He didn’t know if an opportunity would ever come.

* * *

It was already hours later, and Bucky still couldn’t get Steve out of his head. He needed to stop, but nothing was working. He just kept thinking of their summer together. All the fun stuff they did. He got to thinking if there was a possibility Steve had maybe liked Bucky the way Bucky liked him. He might’ve only been 7, but Bucky still knew who and what he was, even at such a young age.

Wanda and Nat approached him, lunch trays in hand. “So, where’s your friend?” Nat asked.

She meant Peter, who told Bucky that he’d meet him in the cafeteria the day before, but so far, was a no-show.

“I’m not sure, actually.” Bucky replied.

“Well, lunch is almost over, so maybe he went out or something?” Wanda suggested.

Bucky nodded in agreement, though yesterday’s events had him suspecting otherwise.

He told them he was going to go double check the courtyard, but in reality, he went to go check every place in the school he figured Peter was small enough to fit, just in case more members of the football team had gotten to him yet again.

Just as Bucky left the cafeteria, Steve walked in. He'd locked eyes with Loki who was sitting with Pierce, Johnny Storm, and Benjamin Grimm, other members of the football team.

They flagged him down. He grimaced subtly, and walked over.

“Where’s Rumlow?” Steve asked them.

“Off helping Gwen get out of her uniform, if you know what I mean”, Pierce replied, to which the other three started laughing, and high fiving him. In that moment, Steve cringed harder than he ever had before.

“Oh, and Rogers, nice work yesterday, man! That Parker kid didn’t even show up today, you really scared the lights out of him”, Johnny said.

Steve wasn’t sure what they wanted of him. Did they expect him to laugh, and agree? The sad thing is that just six months ago, he probably would have. He hates himself for even admitting that, even if only to himself.

The thought of Peter not showing up to the  _second_ day of the school year because of HIM left him feeling uneasy. He excused himself from the table, and walked to his car.

He sat there, biting sloppily at his apple, thinking of what he could say to Peter the next time he saw him. He didn’t even think words would be enough.  
Out of nowhere appeared Sam and Clint, knocking on Steve’s window with bags of chips in hand.

Steve looked at them, laughed, and unlocked the doors. Leave it to Sam and Clint to cheer him up whenever he’s down.

“What’re you doing here all alone? You said you’d meet us in the caf?” Clint said.

“Yeah, Rogers. You’re lucky the caf is right beside the parking lot, otherwise I wouldn’t have wasted my time walking all over to find your skinny, white ass”, added Sam.

Steve just laughed. “I just decided to come out here and have a couple minutes to myself before going back in to find you morons”.  
The two boys just stared at him.

“Steve, I don’t know if you know this, but we’ve been friends for a while. I can tell when you’re all hung up about something, man”, Sam told him, and Clint nodded in agreement.

Steve’s voice was almost shaky as he spoke, and he couldn’t figure out why this whole thing was getting to him this badly.  
“You guys know that thing that happened to that Peter kid yesterday?... That was me. I didn’t even want to do it. I feel terrible about the whole thing, and I don’t know what to do.”

It was silent for a little, until Sam spoke his mind.“Steve, if you didn’t want to do it in the first place, then why do it at all?”

Steve had an answer, but he didn’t want to admit it out loud. He chewed the inside of his cheek, and stalled until the bell rang.  
He grabbed his chemistry textbook from the back seat, told his friends who were still in the car to leave his keys in his locker, and bolted.

Steve wasn’t stupid. Sam was right. He could see right through Steve, and same went for Clint.

He did what he did because even though he was unhappy, he wasn’t ready for his “friendship” with the other guys to end. (Even though it was barely a friendship.) He’s not ready to lose his reputation.  
Steve was so overwhelmed. He was starting to lose all hope on that “senior year is going to be a great time” conversation he had with Sam.  
 

* * *

  
There he was.

Buck hadn’t even been looking at the door when Steve walked in. He had been looking out the window, and was pulled out of a day dream by the guy’s voice as he spoke to Mrs. Cho, explaining why he had been absent from the first class the day before.

Bucky got a good look at his face and again, a million memories came flooding back. He looked the same, but then completely different, all at the same time.

Ms. Cho spoke back to him, and pointed to the only empty stool left in the class... Which just so happened to be the one next to Bucky.

Steve sat down, opened the textbook, and flipped to the directed page that was on the chalkboard.

Bucky didn’t have to be his best friend to tell that his guard was completely up, almost like he was extremely pissed off about something and was keeping his distance.

Any other time or place, that would’ve made Bucky not even bat an eye in his direction, but he was now his bio partner. He needed to introduce himself, so that they could get to work on their assigned questions… Or re-introduce himself.

Bucky cleared his throat in an over the top manner, clearly trying to make his presence known, and turned to Steve. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m James.”

Steve looked right at Bucky, and just mumbled a “Steve”.

Steve then proceeded to continue on with the work, alone. Bucky had no choice but to do the same.

To say that the following 40 minutes of class were painful would be an understatement. The second the bell rang, both of them booked it out of there. Bucky couldn’t tell who got out first.

* * *

  
Bucky had just walked into his house when the phone started ringing.

“Hello, Barnes residence”, he said, all chirpy, the complete opposite of what he was actually feeling.

“Bucky, I have it on good authority that Steve is your new biology partner? So, did you guys talk?” Wanda basically screamed into the phone.

“How do you know this already? The class just finished!” He added, before pausing, and then continuing. “But yes, it’s true. And no, we didn’t talk. He was kind of an asshole...”

Wanda just sighed.

Bucky pulled a chair up to the phone, resting his elbow on the kitchen counter, placing his chin on his arm to get comfortable.

“I don’t know why I got my hopes up for nothing. I shouldn’t have done that to myself. I was trying to play it cool in front of you and Nat, but I was really excited. I thought I was finally going to be able to get closure over everything. I know it’s a little ridiculous, but he was my first friend, Wanda. It’s probably silly, but he meant something to me. I was so stupid for thinking that 7-year old Steve Rogers would just swoop back into my life like no time had passed. ” Bucky found himself almost tearing up over the whole thing.

No money in the world could have found anything that meant more to Bucky than Steve did. Steve was more than “just a friend.” Even more than “just a crush.”

Wanda waited until he calmed down to start talking again.

“Bucky, you know I understand. The way you’re describing Steve? It’s basically what I felt about you. You meant the world to me back then, and you still do, today. It’s not stupid.”

She took a pause, voice shaking, as if she was trying to hold back tears as well. “But you know what? Something tells me that your story with Steve isn’t over. Just wait, Bucky. Wait for him.”

Bucky wanted to laugh; Tell her she was wrong. But a small part of him remembered that for whatever reason, in their many years of friendship, Wanda had never been wrong about anything.

He thanked her, ended the call, and ran up to take a nap, hoping that he wouldn’t have another dream of Steve Rogers.  
 

* * *

  
Steve climbed up the stairs to his room in the attic of the Osborne household after cleaning up the entire ground level, second floor, and third floor. The room was pretty big for an attic, but yet, it was still an attic. Norman was never home. Always away on business trips, or busy at the lab.

Harry, his son, had been sent to a private school before Norman took Steve in.

A promise that Norman, a Rogers’ family friend, had made to Joseph Rogers years earlier is what led to Steve ending up in his hands after years in foster homes.

He lay down on his bed, exhausted after a long and draining day at school. The second day, and already Steve was done with it all. It felt as though a whole four weeks had passed.

He realized he couldn’t keep doing this. There was no realistic version in which staying friends with Rumlow, Pierce, and Loki was possible. It just wasn’t.

They stood for everything that he was against, and he still couldn’t believe it had taken him almost an entire school year to realize.

He got to thinking about his mom and dad. Steve didn’t get much time with his dad, but his mom?

He knew for a fact Sarah would’ve been incredibly disappointed in the choices he had been making.

Whenever Steve felt uneasy about something, he’d either start playing around with his guitar, or he’d pull out his small notepad he kept for sketching.  
But in that moment, he reminded himself to do something he meant to do the second he got home.

Steve got to his feet and dove for the trunk he kept at the foot of his bed. He swam around in it, having to pull out multiple items such as his guitar, and a couple of stuffed animals he kept for old time’s sake, in order to reach for what he wanted.  
It was a small shoebox.

But this shoebox contained smaller items in it. Items that held sentimental meaning to Steve.  
He fished for the Polaroid picture at the bottom of the box, and stared at it.

It was of Bucky, taken by Steve during one of their many days together. At the bottom, in marker, it said “Me n Bucky.”

Steve kept his gaze fixed on the image, a small smile forming on his face.  
“Holy shit. It was him”, he said out loud to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've been so busy the last month with so many different things, including graduating, but just know, I haven't forgotten about this fic, don't worry :') *I say as like 3 people have read it*
> 
> Next chapter is a lot happier... At least up until the end, lmao.
> 
> Again, I can't stress this enough: I'm going for like high school drama here, so if at any point you find yourself thinking "WTF? Cringe" then that's why. Or maybe you'll just find yourself cringing at my writing style, asdfghjkl.


	5. 1000 Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Meet me in the south staircase by the gymnasium at 3:10.  
> –S”

_9:17am, August 20th, 1995_.

Bucky was making his way to his locker, having just finished his 2nd period of the day, art with Ms. Peggy. Once class was over, she’d made him stay behind to catch up a little more.

“I really didn’t get a chance to say much the other day, but I really am glad you decided to return, Bucky. I just wanted to remind you that I am here if you ever need anything or somebody to talk to, either as your art teacher, a guidance counsellor, or just a friend.”

Ms. Peggy had started as the guidance counsellor at Shield High during Bucky’s sophomore year, back when everything had happened. She helped Bucky get through it all, oftentimes being more helpful than his dad, or even Wanda and Nat.

“What a rollercoaster of a first year”, he said to her during one of their sessions of that year. “I’m surprised you haven’t resigned yet, what with the amount of stress helping me must have you under. You’re probably already looking for new positions for next year.” She’d laughed, but reminded Bucky that helping him was exactly what she was there for.

Since Ms. Peggy had kept him behind, Bucky needed to rush so that he wouldn’t be late to his next class. But Mr. Strange’s classroom was on the other side of the school, and he still needed to drop off his art supplies, and pick up his math textbook. He was going to be late whether he liked it or not.

As he opened his locker, a piece of paper with his name on it fell out and onto the floor. He switched materials, closed his locker, and then bent down quickly to see what the note said.

_“Meet me in the south staircase by the gymnasium at 3:10.–S”_

It couldn’t be. Could it? Bucky was quickly snapped out of his haze by the sound of the bell ringing. “Oh fuck!” he said as he bolted to Mr. Strange’s classroom, tucking the note into his jeans.

* * *

_12:13pm, August 20th, 1995._

“Alright, you hags, which one of you was it, huh?” Bucky said showing up to the group’s regular lunch table, tray of food in hand.

Wanda and Natasha both shot him confused looks, neither one of them confessing.

“The note…” Bucky shot out.

“Okay, Barnes, you’ve officially lost us”, Natasha said. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Bucky rummaged through his pocket, and laid the note out for them to read.

Both girls read the note, and then simultaneously looked up at Bucky with wide eyes. “This wasn’t us, Buck”, Wanda said.

Bucky just stared back. “So that means it’s really him then…”

Wanda laughed. “I told you he was going to remember you!”

“But wait, why do you have to meet after school? Don’t you have biology with him?” Natasha asked.

“Only Mondays and Tuesdays, so no, not today.”

Wanda cut in. “So, you’re going to do it, right? You’re going to meet him? Do you need us to be there or anything?”

Bucky thought about it. “Of course, I’m going to go meet him. I’ve been waiting years to talk to Steve Rogers again. But no, you guys don’t need to stick around, I should be okay.”

Just as the trio began to discuss other matters, Peter Parker made his way into the cafeteria. As he looked around for a place to sit, Rumlow, Pierce, and Loki approached him.

“Hey, Pete! Noticed you didn’t show up to school yesterday. Is everything okay?” Rumlow said, stepping right into his personal space.

“Look I’d really appreciate it if you just left me alone right now, you guys”, Peter replied. He’d tried his best to not look scared, but guys like Rumlow could always sense fear a mile away.

“And we’d really appreciate it if you weren’t such a little bitch”, Pierce said, flipping Peter’s lunch tray out of his hands, and into the air.

Luckily, it was only a sandwich and fries, so the mess wasn’t significantly grave, but it was obviously enough to send Bucky storming their way.

“Hey, what the hell is going on here? Stop!” Bucky said.

The three guys all exchanged looks, and then glared right at Bucky.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you get off, Barnes? You really think you of all people are going to try to tell us what to do?” Rumlow said, approaching him at an intimidatingly slow pace. “You really think you intimidate us?”

The two starred at each other for seconds, until Mrs. Cho came into the cafeteria and forced them to return to their respective tables.

As Rumlow passed Bucky, he whispered into his ear. “You just dug your own casket today, Barnes. This ain’t over. We haven’t forgotten about what happened sophomore year, and honestly, I doubt everyone else has too. Looks like we’ll just have to bring all of that back up again.”

Bucky tensed, deep in thought over everything Rumlow had just said.

“Hey, Bucky? What did he mean by that?” Peter asked, as innocently as he could. Bucky hadn’t divulged everything when Peter asked that day they first met, and he sure as heck wasn’t going to do it now.

“Nothing, Pete. It’s nothing”, Bucky said, clearly still rattled. “Here, let me introduce you to my friends.”

The pair walked to the table, and were greeted with a litany of “what the fuck, Bucky’s?”

He shrugged them off, and introduced Wanda and Nat to Peter.

The quartet all chatted amongst themselves over multiple topics. At one point, Peter asks the girls about Homecoming. Bucky had checked out of the conversation midway. He was proud of himself for standing up for Peter, but he didn’t even consider the repercussions. He started thinking about Romania. He wondered if it was too late to go pack his bags and get a one-way ticket back.

* * *

“Steven, thank you for coming, son. We actually have much to discuss”, Coach T said, closing his office door.

“Uh, sir, before you begin, is this going to last a while? Like until practice? I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, it’s just I have somewhere I need to be”, Steve said hesitantly.

“It might. I actually wanted to talk to you about your future, as well as the captain position. Sam tells me you’re eager to try out for it? I know you’re already quarterback, and so I think it would be perfect. You’ve shown a great sense of leadership. However, if you need to go…” Coach T told him, leaving the rest up in the air.

Steve’s excitement jumped right out of him. “No! No, proceed. It’s fine”, he said, shooting his coach a big smile.  
He looked at the clock briefly, hoping to God this wouldn’t take too long, and that Bucky would still be waiting for him.

* * *

It was 3:10. Bucky was anxiously awaiting Steve’s arrival. He had actually gotten there as soon as class let out, right at 3. He was thinking of what exactly he’d say to Steve, and what Steve might say to him. Bucky was eager to find out why Steve had stopped showing up that summer. He could finally get some answers.

The more time passed, the warier he grew. Football practice started at 3:20, was Steve going to skip it? “Where the hell is he?” Bucky thought to himself.  
By 3:56, Steve still hadn’t shown up, so Bucky did what any rational person would: he just left.

He left not being able to understand why Steven Grant Rogers would be the one to initiate a meet up, and then not show up at all.  
He reminded himself that Steve was member of the football team now, he clearly wasn’t who he used to be. It was probably all a prank orchestrated by Rumlow and his pals.

He couldn’t believe he’d gotten his hopes up, just to be completely punched in the gut.  
The second the door behind Bucky closed, the door at the bottom of the stairwell slammed open. “Bucky? Hello? Buck?” Steve shouted.

He had checked the entire stairwell, but Bucky wasn’t there. “God, way to go, you idiot”, Steve whispered to himself.

* * *

_4:43pm, August 20th, 1995._

Bucky got home some time later to a new mess of bottles, though this time, his father was nowhere in sight. He decided to clean them all up, as well as the giant puddle of whiskey seeping out of its’ bottle. Since he was already cleaning the bottles, he took it upon himself to tidy the rest of the kitchen and the living room. His dad might appreciate it.

Once he got up to his room, he grabbed one of his notebooks from his suitcases, which had yet to be organized and put away. He started writing about everything he was feeling. It was so confusing, He was angry, sad, but at the same time, he still loved and missed Steve so much.

He thought his tears were long gone by that point, but alas, more joined the tip of his pen on the paper below.

* * *

Steve was in bed, fiddling random strings at his guitar. He was tense. The entire Bucky thing had his stomach in knots from the second it happened, and they still hadn’t subsided.

His biggest fear was that Bucky wouldn’t let him explain what happened. Maybe he’d just assume Steve was screwing with him on purpose.

Steve wondered if Bucky was as feisty as he had been back when he’d known him. He was rather shy around strangers, but Bucky wouldn’t be afraid to let Steve know who was really boss whenever they were alone.

Steve couldn’t think of a single time he’d ever been happier than he was that summer. The time we spent with Bucky was magical, and now here Bucky was again, for the first time in years. Steve just hoped they’d get to have the proper conversation they both deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was way shorter than I'd hoped :(  
> Also, hello, I know it's been like an entire year, lol. I'm hoping to get as many chapters in as I can before I start university in the fall. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy my cringy words.


	6. Goodnight N Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky get to finally be re-introduced to one another after years without each other, but it doesn't end well.

_August 31st, 1995._

“Ugh, god, I haven’t had sex in so long, I’m so sick of the girls in this school never putting out”, Ben Grimm said to the guys in the locker room as he pulled his gym shirt over his head. Johnny Storm and a couple of the other guys laughed and agreed.

The other day when Steve thought he wouldn’t ever cringe as hard as he had? It didn’t hold a candle to how hard he had cringed in that moment in the locker room.

Steve tied his sneakers on and got up to head out to the football field, until Bucky and Peter came walking in.

“I’m pretty sure my gym sneakers are still in here”, Peter said to Bucky, running to his locker to punch in the combo to retrieve his gym shoes. The day before, Peter had dropped a hammer on his foot during woodshop, and took off his shoes at the nurse’s office. After falling asleep while waiting for his mom, Peter noticed his sneakers had been stolen.

Peter didn’t want to point fingers, but Bucky was convinced it was the footballers who had stolen them.

Steve peered over at them both, and made eye contact with Bucky.

Steve had attempted to talk to Bucky almost every day since the day after they were supposed to meet, so that he could apologize for not showing up. Bucky just kept ignoring him.

Regardless, right there in the locker room, Steve decided to try again. “Hi, Buck. Do you think we could talk? Please?”

“Just hear him out this time, Bucky”, Peter whispered after noticing the two of them making eye contact. Bucky had vented to Wanda, Natasha, and Peter about the whole ordeal the day after during the lunch hour, where Bucky then explained everything to Peter, including why he left for Romania.

Bucky chuckled subtly under his breath, but agreed. He looked at Steve and nodded. “Fine.”

Steve smiled, and apologized again to Peter for what he had done.

Steve had actually initially gone to Peter’s house and apologized to him, and his aunt May, in person. Once Steve left Peter’s apartment, Peter, who couldn’t help but get tear-eyed over the gesture, called Bucky and told him all about it. Since then, Peter has been convinced that maybe Steve isn’t as bad as he’d originally thought.

“I’ll catch up with you later, Bucky”, Peter said after having ditched the flip flops he wore to school that day for his gym sneakers.

Steve motioned for Bucky to sit beside him on the bench. Bucky just stayed standing.

Steve was nervous. Their first “meeting” had already been spoiled. He didn’t want Bucky hating him. “Bucky, I need to apologize. I’m so sorry I didn’t show up to the stairwell that day. I got stuck in a meeting with Coach T’Challa, and then when I did get there, you had already left. I wasn’t tricking you, or anything like that. I hope you believe that.”

Bucky stared at him. He felt super bad in that moment. It sounded like a genuine excuse, and Bucky had gone days without letting Steve properly explain. Had he just let Steve do so the first time, they could’ve gotten all of this over with.

“Okay. I believe you. I’m sorry I didn’t let you do that earlier”, Bucky said, smiling.

Steve huffed out a laugh. “It’s okay.”

The room was struck with a slightly awkward silence, before Steve decided to break it.

“Bucky Barnes, we have a lot of catching up to do. If you’re not busy tonight, why don’t we meet at our park at 8? We’ll be free of distractions there, and I haven’t been up there in years.”

Our park.

Bucky could’ve cried right then and there. He wanted to jump into Steve’s arms, and stay there for hours. But he couldn’t. Bucky didn’t know this Steve, and Steve didn’t know this Bucky. They needed to be re-introduced to each other. And Bucky was super excited to do so.

“Okay. You better not skip out on me again, Rogers. I’ll see you at 8.”

Bucky walked out the happiest he’d felt in days. Steve closed his locker and headed out for the football field, the happiest he’d felt in days.

Johnny Storm came from around the opposite side of the lockers that Steve’s was on, smiling smugly, having just heard Steve and Bucky’s entire conversation. “Wait ‘till Rumlow hears about this”, he thought to himself.

* * *

The day ended up flying by, much to Bucky’s relief. Before he left for the day, Bucky promised Natasha and Wanda he and Peter would go watch cheerleading tryouts play out. Though the two had previously dismissed it, Wanda and Natasha both realized joining the squad would only benefit them in the long run. Not to mention, it wasn’t completely out of their realm of experiences, as both girls had done gymnastics when they were younger.

The only bad thing was that Gwen was the captain of the cheer squad, and Gwen, as well as Jessica, Jane, and Sharon, hated Wanda and Natasha, so actually getting spots on the squad might prove to be a hassle.

“Next!” Gwen screamed out as a girl who’d just been rejected ran out of the gym crying.   
“Okay, go kick their asses and show them all that you two not only belong on the squad, but are better than all of them”, Bucky said, patting both girls on the butt as they walked onto the gym floor.

“Names?” Gwen asked them.

“I’m pretty sure you know the answer to that”, Natasha shot back.

“And I’m pretty sure that she asked you a question, so answer it”, Jane replied back, resulting in laughs from the other girls. To avoid further chaos, Wanda decided to put a stop to it.

“Wanda Maximoff and Natasha Romanoff.”

“Alright then. Show us what you’ve got”, Gwen told them.

Wanda motioned to Bucky, who then got up and passed the tape of their audition song to one of the guys on the squad. It was Cold Hearted by Paula Abdul. They’d been up every night that week trying to get it perfect. It was their favorite song of the moment.

“Think they’ll make the cut?” Peter whispered to Bucky.

“Hell yeah. Just watch. They’ve got this.”

Wanda and Natasha worked in perfect tandem, throwing in some hot dance moves, with a couple of neat flips and tricks, and all in all, it was a great routine.

The two girls earned cheers from everyone in the gymnasium, excluding, of course, Gwen, Jessica, and Jane. Sharon, in a surprising plot twist, clapped like everyone else.

“Thank you for your time, girls, but I’m sure I speak for most of us when I say it’s going to have to be a no”, Gwen said.

Wanda and Natasha looked genuinely shocked at her words. Bucky felt he had to speak up.

“Whoa, are you fucking kidding? That was the best audition yet, and you’re seriously not going to take them? You’re the one who asked them to audition!”.

The entire squad, who were seated at a long table up front, similar to that of the Last Supper painting, all glared at Bucky.

“Gwen told them to audition, she didn’t say that they would get on the squad”, Jessica barked at Bucky.

Wanda spoke up. “Okay, we’re over it! We’re leaving”, she said, then finished with a ‘let’s go’ gesture to Bucky and Peter.

Natasha stopped Wanda in her tracks. “No, wait.” She then walked up to the squad’s table and towered over Gwen, staring her dead in the eyes.

“We could’ve worked together this year. You could’ve helped us out on our moves, and we could’ve helped you out with yours, because no offense Gwen, but every time you dance, you look like a rotted sea monkey that just washed up onto shore. Together, we could’ve won Nationals and maybe even put the beef between us behind us. But instead, you’re choosing to continue this cunty head-cheerleader narrative, and hey, you do as you please, but everyone in this gymnasium knows just how insecure and sad you are, and just so you know, it’s even clearer now.”

Tears filled Gwen’s eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Her demeanour quickly changed from small, to bitch in a matter of seconds. She stood up, and was suddenly inches away from Natasha’s face. “You’re going to regret this”, she said, then calling out “Next!” to signal that the interaction was now over.

Wanda pulled Natasha by the arm, and Bucky and Peter followed them out.

“Nat, what were you thinking?! She’s just going to make our lives even more miserable now!” Wanda said.

Natasha scoffed. “Wanda, I’m sick of this! I don’t care anymore. I’m not putting up with it. If she wants to continue this, then I’m fighting back ten times harder from now on, as should you.”

Wanda looked to the floor, but nodded in agreement

“Everything that happened in there aside, you guys were so hot!” Peter said.

The quartet was then interrupted by Pepper Pots, who was the head of the yearbook department since freshmen year.

“Hey! Excuse me, I just had to say something. I saw what happened in there, and you guys need to know that you were incredible. Seriously, I saw better moves in there today than I did at every football game last year.”

Wanda and Natasha smiled, and thanked her.

“Hey, if you guys are looking for a club to join, yearbook’s looking. It looks great on college applications, so that’s always a positive. Just think it over”, Pepper then said before taking off, and saying goodbye to Peter. Peter was on the yearbook club, and knew Pepper well.

“Well, looks like we’ve got our extracurricular”, Natasha said.

“And we didn’t have to actually join the cheer squad. I’d say this is a win-win situation”, Wanda then added.

“Let’s get out of here, dorks. I’ve got to go home and pick out an outfit for later”, Bucky said, linking arms with both girls, and leading the four of them out of the school.

* * *

 

The entire floor plan of the campground of Prospect Park was still as confusing and odd as ever, just as it had been back in 1985.

Bucky stood in the darkness, and waited. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to wait as long this time around.

The sound of a moving chain snapped Bucky from his thoughts, and he turned around to investigate.

It was Steve, who was leaning against the swing set pole.

“Hi”, Steve said, smiling.

He didn’t know why this whole situation kept making him emotional, but Bucky felt his throat swell up as tears filled his eyes.

“Hi”, Bucky replied.

Steve walked up to him slowly, and the two met each other halfway in a hug. It lasted a while, almost enough to make up for the 10 years of time they lost.

“Geez Bucky, I’m real sorry, again. You really deserved better the other day, I should’ve talked to you in person, not on a note, and I should have come to find you the second I found out Coach T wanted to talk to me. This isn’t how our first big re-meeting was supposed to be”, Steve said, struck with guilt.

Bucky felt bad. He shouldn’t have been as hard on Steve as he’d been. “No, Steve, look I shouldn’t have treated you like crap for it. It wasn’t even really your fault, but rather Coach T’Challa’s. You don’t have to apologize anymore.”

Steve nodded, and the two stared at each other for a good minute, before Steve broke the silence.

“So, I think we’ve got some catching up to do.”

Bucky laughed. Wasn’t that the understatement of the century.

“You go first. I’ve been waiting years to find out why you stopped showing up here.”

Steve nodded.  
“I don’t even know where to start, it’s a long story. The reason I stopped coming was because we moved, fast and unexpectedly. How stupid are you and I for never exchanging addresses or phone numbers?”

Bucky laughed again. He was probably going to be laughing all night. “We’re pretty stupid, but then again, we were like 8, or something.”

Steve continued on. “I had no way to get here, or any way to contact you. Believe me, Bucky, the entire situation was complete bullshit for everyone involved. I spent years missing you, hoping you’d never forget me.

Tears. Again. Though this time, Bucky didn’t even try to hold them back.

“Oh, Buck, don’t cry, come on, man”, Steve said, feeling bad.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to be a little bitch, but trust me, Steve. I spent years missing you, too. I came back to the park every day for the rest of that summer, hoping you’d somehow show up.”

After Bucky spoke, it was Steve’s turn to cry. There was not an ounce of masculinity in the atmosphere.

Steve hugged him again, the second of hopefully many hugs to be shared between them.

“I still actually can’t believe this is happening. I swear I’m dreaming or something”, Bucky said.

Steve laughed, nodding agreeing. “Same here. It couldn’t be more perfect timing. I mean, it’s senior year, we could’ve both left this town after graduation with no closure on that summer. I’m so glad this isn’t a dream.”

Bucky reached into his pocket, and palmed something he brought with him, when Steve suggested they head out closer to the lake.

Steve sat on a rock, and gestured for Bucky to take the one next to him.

“So, Buck, how’s your life been? Tell me everything.”

Bucky bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t very well tell Steve everything.

“Well, as you might remember from that summer, I have a sister now. My mom and dad sold the company a couple of years back, and I just got back from a year away in Romania.”

Steve was impressed, though also a little confused.

“Wait, why did they sell the company? That’s tough to hear, I mean come on, you and I met because of the company, remember? Those kids picking on you?”

Bucky smiled, thinking back to that day. “Yes, of course I do, they kicked the crap out of me. And it’s a long story, not that important.”

Steve wondered if maybe it was important, and maybe Bucky just didn’t want to bring it up. Nevertheless, he changed the subject.

“And a year in Romania? That’s intense. Why’d you go?”

Bucky looked to the lake, and took his time to answer. “That’s also kind of a long story.”

Steve laughed. “Alright, alright, I understand. I’m going to have to win your trust. But I will. Just wait and see. And then you can tell me, later”, Steve said, finishing with a wink.

Right then and there, the two heard the sounds of multiple vehicles pulling up to the lot behind the lake. They got up from the rocks, and squinted their eyes to see what the ruckus was.

Rumlow. Pierce. Loki. Grimm. Storm. And by the looks of it, some more guys from the team, who didn’t bother to leave the vehicles.

“Well… What do we have here?” Rumlow asked, shining a flashlight onto Bucky, and then onto Steve.

“Looks like fairy training”, Loki answered.

“I’d say you’re right”, Rumlow said.

Steve was sweating bullets. This was not supposed to happen.

“Hey, eat a dick, Loki. It’s just two old friends catching up, that’s it”, Steve said.

Rumlow started laughing, which led to everyone else laughing as well.

“I’ll throw you a bone, here, Rogers. I’ll pretend like I believe you, and we can forget any of this happened, if you get in the car and leave with us, right now”, Rumlow said.

Bucky was speechless, and paralyzed with fear. A fear of a physical fight breaking out, and a fear of Steve actually just leaving like this.

“Look, if you’d rather we just tell everyone what we saw tonight-”, Rumlow began, before Steve cut him off.

“No! Let’s just go”, Steve said, voice shaking.

“Good, I’m glad to see you still have a brain in that big head of yours”, Rumlow said.

The guys all began to walk away, before Rumlow stopped them all. He shined the flashlight back onto Bucky. “Know your place, fag.”

Rumlow lead the guys to the vehicles. Steve glanced behind him for a split second, mouthing an “I’m sorry” to Bucky, but it was too dark for Bucky to have been able to read it.

The vehicles’ engines all turned on in unison, and in an instant, Bucky was alone. He stared at the floor, still. He finally un-fisted his hand to reveal the friendship that Steve had made Bucky back in 1985. He was planning on showing Steve that he’d kept it all these years. But what was the point now? Bucky started crying, though this time, it was out of pure hurt.

Bucky began his walk home, throwing the bracelet into the air behind him, screaming.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first full length story fic I've written/I'm writing, so bare with me, please! (:  
> Stucky is my #1 OTP, and their story is one of the most beautiful one's out there.
> 
> Three huge inspirations for this fic were  
> After Hours by OhCaptainMyCaptain &  
> Is It Pretending If I Already Want You? by OhCaptainMyCaptain  
> My Brooklyn Boy by TheSinkingSubmarine
> 
> If you haven't read those, definitely go do that.  
> Reach me/follow me on instagram: @bvckyrogers  
> https://www.instagram.com/bvckyrogers/


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